What did we think of this summer’s Pure? Not bad, not bad at all. Over 700 brands showcasing some of the world’s finest fashion in a venue that never fails to captivate us. Indeed, we spoke to a guest over from Ireland (as a first time visitor) and he remarked that it would be hard not to enjoy a show in such a beautiful building.
That’s not to say some of the criticisms we aimed at the show in February aren’t still applicable. We can only lament the fact that Pure doesn’t trumpet British fashion in any purposeful way. By becoming more of an international institution, the event has diluted its proposition. Come on Pure, let’s see more emphasis on British designs, styles and brands. We’ve got plenty to shout about.
The seminar programme was an improvement over previous shows and we noticed that Pure is making a strong effort to become more relevant and topical. In fact on Monday we attended a superb Q&A with Drapers, WGSN Trend Forecasting and a few other luminaries looking at the future for fashion brands.
Styles and colours aside, if there was one business trend readily apparent at the show it was this: the need for business efficiencies and a streamlining of costs. We spoke to a few brands that mentioned this on the show floor, as well as programme speakers in the conference rooms. Brands are getting squeezed from a number of areas without being able to easily pass on the costs to high street customers.
The answer to this isn’t simple.
However, we strongly believe that i.LEVEL has a role to play because our fashion management software is geared towards making the business of fashion smarter. Take for example our Tablet Order Taker launched earlier in April.
Our tablet (and laptop) solution lets agents know what’s in stock whilst out on the road, allowing them to direct sales at readily available lines. Better still, no internet is needed when taking wholesale orders and, once completed, the upload to a fashion brand’s head office system takes just a matter of seconds. Bottom line: it helps a fashion brand become smarter and more efficient when taking orders out on the road.
This is where we see the business of fashion going – an emphasis on streamlining back-end operations and harnessing technology to implement efficiencies across the board. To this end we are working on a number of key developments that we will be launching shortly, one of which is to help fashion warehouse operations become more efficient. Watch this space in early August.
Overall, we enjoyed Pure SS17 and look forward to next February’s show.
If you’d like to know more about our range of fashion management software solutions we’d be pleased to demo our modular system. Please contact 01234 761 757 or info@ilevelsoftware.co.uk and, if you are a young fashion brand, don’t forget that we also offer i.LEVEL Lite for start-up fashion brands.